General Gaming Thread - 2022

[Bobfoc]

I think the conversation went something like this:

"Incoming!"

"Oh, dear!"

"Oops!"

"You'll regret that!"

 

[tristy]

Rocksteady has quietly delayed Kill the Justice League until next year, Bloomberg is reporting.

I’m starting to think one of the big studio acquisitions is going to be AT&T/Discovery/whoever selling off Warner’s game division, maybe piece by piece, maybe the whole thing. But, in any event, by the time this game comes out, Rocksteady won’t have released a game for 8 years.

I was looking forward to this more than I was Gotham Knights, honestly. Damn.

[Bobfoc]

Any time a publisher announces a release date that's several months away, there's a good chance it will be delayed.

[gunnar hendershow]

There's a very good discussion to be had, especially with the continued consolidation of the industry, that these ever-increasing lead times for video games is unsustainable.

[Josh]

Can you elaborate on that? Totally agree that the continued consolidation is bad for numerous reasons. What do you mean in terms of increasing lead times? I’ve been under the impression that it’s far better to delay (and even hold off on announcing a game), rather than overwork developers by cramming in weeks of crunch time.

[gunnar hendershow]

So around the lead times, games keep getting exponentially longer to make without exponential growth to how fun they are. It's maybe not the best phrasing of the metric. But basically studios spend more time, more money, and more resources on something that isn't wholly different as an experience from something from 15 years ago.

Consolidation means companies have to take less risks, so spending a fortune looking for the next major franchise isn't as necessary when you can instead put your focus on established revenue generators (your f2p games or already-established franchises). Factor that with the added risk of trying to find the next big title and you'll see contraction in the number of truly new games.

I'll make a counterpoint to this that it's in the interest of Epic Games, etc. to produce engines that create a ton of efficiencies allowing for faster and cheaper development of games similar in size and scope to the major AAA titles currently popular. So maybe on that front it'll take care of itself. Allowing new entrants to succeed in the industry through keeping barriers low.

The crunch, overwork, etc. I treat as separate and something that will likely happen regardless of the environment at certain studios. Either through mismanagement, long-established norms, etc. Unions or regulation would likely be the only ways to have a true impact there.

[Josh]

Ah, I get what you’re saying. Appreciated.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Quote

 

Grand Theft Auto players know what it’s like working for a Mexican cartel. But they do so from the comfort of their own bedroom. 

What many don’t realize is that real-life cartel recruiters are playing the game and recruiting players for real-life work. Last year, Mexican police revealed youngsters were being recruited by drug cartels over popular video games, including Grand Theft Auto Online, though there was little in the way of evidence.

According to a case unearthed by Forbes, it appears the U.S. has gathered evidence that GTA Online really is a recruitment tool for Mexico’s narcotics cartels.

In November last year, Customs and Border Protection officials in Arizona were inspecting a Jeep Cherokee when they found nearly 60kg of methamphetamine, the government said. When they asked the driver, Alyssa Navarro, what her story was, she said that in January that year she had been playing Grand Theft Auto Online when she met a man who called himself “George,” according to a search warrant unsealed late last week. After getting to know each other within the game, Navarro said they eventually started talking on Snapchat and later met in person in Phoenix, investigators claimed.

The suspect said that George asked her over Snapchat whether she’d like some work as a “runner,” shipping electronics so they could be sold in Mexico, telling her she could be paid as much as $2,000 a trip depending on how big the load was, according to the government filing.

Federal investigators obtained Snapchat messages from Navarro’s phone in which George promises “a lot of money” and offered the use of a truck, believed to be the same Jeep in which she was apprehended.

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2022/01/24/mexican-cartels-recruit-drug-mules-on-grand-theft-auto-online/?sh=58ac97ee69f6

From the same article, cartels have taken to using the game Free Fire, a free to play mobile game, and are using it - as well as GTAO - in Mexico to recruit not just drug runners, but to recruit younger kids as lookouts.

[gunnar hendershow]

To my point above... Right on cue, PlatinumGames, who recently got a new CEO, has basically said they're tired of spending money and time to make games that don't generate long-term revenue. And they'll be changing their approach to games.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/02/platinumgames-is-keen-to-create-titles-that-are-different-from-its-past-efforts

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

 

[FLiam]

Wait - I thought TellTale games were finished? Or is someone else doing this?

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

AdHoc Studio, which has a load of former TellTale staff, have carried it on.

[Draevyn]

8 hours ago, damshow said:

To my point above... Right on cue, PlatinumGames, who recently got a new CEO, has basically said they're tired of spending money and time to make games that don't generate long-term revenue. And they'll be changing their approach to games.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/02/platinumgames-is-keen-to-create-titles-that-are-different-from-its-past-efforts

I've always wanted an MMO that is more single player than one that forces you to play other people. Like something where those people are there for you to interact with, but it doesn't force you to gather a group of people to do things unless you really want to. I dunno if I explained it very well. 

I feel like it opens doors to tell super long term stories through patches/expansions but still gives that single player experience.

[apsham]

I think for the most part, people play Elder Scrolls Online like that. But it's still very much wrapped in traditional MMORPG trappings.

[gunnar hendershow]

Isn't FFXIV also one of those single-player-ish MMOs? Though perhaps not as on that extreme as ESO.

[Krabby]

I'm just gonna say it - I hate MMOs!

[Ruki]

1 hour ago, damshow said:

Isn't FFXIV also one of those single-player-ish MMOs? Though perhaps not as on that extreme as ESO.

Pretty much. Can be played totally solo (but when you do dungeons it is in a party).

23 minutes ago, Krabby said:

I'm just gonna say it - I hate MMOs!

Same. But I managed to get a heck ton of enjoyment from FF14 before I burned out.

[Krabby]

Any Dynasty Warriors ( or related Musou style games) fans here that have played any of the more recent titles?

[Draevyn]

On 08/02/2022 at 10:27, damshow said:

Isn't FFXIV also one of those single-player-ish MMOs? Though perhaps not as on that extreme as ESO.

Yeah it's the closest to what I'm looking for...and I do play it. But there is an end-game that requires you to group up. You don't have to do it of course, but if there is one then I always feel the need to do it. It's a horrible dilemma.  I feel like FFXIV at least makes it a lot easier to group up than some other games....(looking at you World Of Warcraft)

[apsham]

I do wish for more games like Kingdom of Amalur - I should look into that fresh DLC that dropped a few months back. That game had the feeling of an MMO style quest system, and it was a fully solo game even if the gameplay was more action based.